2.4 School development in South Africa
2.4.1 IQMS Implementation
There is plethora of studies that have been conducted in South Africa based on IQMS as a school improvement policy initiative. These studies were conducted over a period of more than ten years at various levels with the aim of finding out how IQMS was implemented in practice as policy aimed at school improvement. For purposes of this study, IQMS is considered as a policy initiative that serves a leverage point that contributes to school development. It is not the purpose of this study to reinvent the wheel regarding studies that have been conducted on IQMS, but to show the extent to which there is great interest that has been indicated by diverse scholars in examining the implementation of IQMS. In this thesis, I argue that IQMS is a supra system with a number of subsystems, which are ultimately aimed at school development.
In South Africa there is limited published literature on school development, however there is a plethora of studies conducted on the implementation of IQMS. As An initiative of the National Department of Education in South Africa, IQMS encompasses school development
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and school improvement which has been widely researched in South Africa from different perspectives the diverse focal areas (Sister, 2004; Mchunu, 2006; Dhlamini, 2009; Mntambo, 2009; Xulu, 2009; Mbalati, 2010; Sambumbu, 2010; Kok, Rabe, Swarts, Van der Vyver &
Van der Walt, 2010; Mathews, 2011; Mji, 2011; Kershaw, 2012; Mbulawa, 2012; Van der Voort & Wood, 2013; Mchunu, 2014; Mpungose & Ngwenya, 2014; Ngwenya &
Mpungose, 2014; Van der Voort, 2014). These studies shed light on the shortcomings and limitations in the way IQMS has been implemented, inspite of the objectives of the National Department of Education to improve schools. From the emphasis placed on IQMS implementation and research conducted on it, it can be concluded that much interest is being put on school development by scholars in an effort to show the gap between theory and practice.
Literature on the failure of school reform (Lunenburg, 2013) highlights several barriers to the upscaling of reform efforts. In South Africa many studies have focused on shortcomings of IQMS (McDermot, 2000). Kershav (2012) in his study discovered that principals were faced with challenges of integrating the three key pillars of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS). These three pillars of IQMS are Whole School Evaluation (WSE), Development Appraisal System (DAS) and Performance Measurement (PM). The National Whole School Evaluation Policy (2001) was introduced as a component of the National Department of Education‘s initiative to improve the quality of education in South African schools through introducing self and external evaluation of schools together with accountability indicators and measures. There was also a lack of co-ordination and integration of the programmes in most of the schools as attested by some scholars (Kershav, 2012; Mji, 2011). Biggs, Rhodes, Archibald, Kunene, Mutanga, Nkuna, Ocholla and Phadima (2015) outline the challenge that education systems are faced with in terms of improving their capacity to manage complex, and undefined challenges in the 21st century.
This shows clearly that the mistakes that were made in the past can still be repeated, if the same strategies are employed in implementing school development. From these examples it can be concluded that the South African schooling system is stuck in the reductionist and consumerist approaches to school development.
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Biggs and the co-authors applied systems strategies in their research conducted in South Africa to dealing with complex case studies (Biggs, et al., 2015). Biggs and coauthors make a recommendation for continuous and sustained development based on principles of participation, empowerment, ownership, learning, adaptability and simplicity (2015). There is consensus among stakeholders that the IQMS was implemented too rapidly. Mtapuri (2014) proposed a bottom-up approach which is well-resourced, and anchored on partnerships as a way of improving schools. Sister (2004) focused on the role of the School Management Team (SMT) in the leadership and management of school improvement. Msimango (2009) espoused a systems perspective in order to understand the social, cultural and contextual problems in the context of building a complex, holistic picture of school development. Prew (2009) advocated for community based involvement in school development and the modification of school improvement concepts to South African needs. Xaba (2006) outlines the difficulties that were encountered by the School Development Committees in formulating school development plans due to the lack of skills and capacity. De Clerq (2008) identified serious flaws in the implementation of IQMS due to the lack of integration between appraisal, development and performance measurement. Mbalati (2010) critiqued the disjointed and disintegrated approach to the implementation of the Whole School Evaluation in Limpopo schools. Dhlamini (2009) examined the use of IQMS as a policy for measuring how to improve teaching and learning in higher education. De Clerq and Phiri (2013) advocated for the cluster system as a strategy for implementing school-based teacher development, although it has its own limitations and challenges.
De Clerq (2008) critically exposed the shortfalls prevalent in the Whole School Evaluation as a tool for monitoring and evaluating schools in South Africa. Osei-Owusu and Kwame Sam (2012) identified the critical role of the School Management Committees (SMC) in improving the quality of teaching and learning. Van Der Voort (2013) used an action learning approach to empower SMTs to formulate school improvement plans. Van Der Voort (2013) points out the shift towards an empowering approach which has the elements of co-learning and continuous improvement, whilst working with SMTs in the formulation of school improvement plans (Van der Voort & Wood, 2014). The study shows a paradigm shift from the cascade models that have resulted in the failure of a number of education
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reform efforts in South Africa. It is my argument that much could be learnt from Van der Voort‘s research.
There are diverse lessons which can be learned from the studies that have been conducted on the implementation of IQMS, which I argue is a human activity system. In IQMS there are a number of actors, consumers who play a significant role in order for the system to be effective. Amongst those lessons, I can conclude that school development is a dynamic, unpredictable and uncontrollable system to be comprehended from one-dimensional perspective. In systems thinking, diverse views are integral to the way school development is perceived. For purposes of this study school development is cannot be confined to the boundaries neither of an era nor of an epoch as articulated by these reviewers (Hopkins, Hopkins, Harris, Stoll & Mackay, 2011; Banathy, 1991). School development is in dire need of a new theoretical framework that considers the challenges faced by principals in the 21st century as have been articulated in literature (Kendal, 2015; Lovett, Dempster & Flückiger, 2015; Barr & Saltmarsh, 2014; Peurach, 2011; Kershaw, 2012; Dempster, Lovett &
Fluckiger, 2011; Townsend, 2011; Duggart, 2008). The reductionist approaches to school development are inadequate to deal with the challenges and complex nature in which schools are located, particularly the South African school system which is divided into diverse categories due to inherited backlogs (Ono & Ferreira, 2010; Mathews & Jones, 2008).
Prestige (2013) in his study advocated for the use of systems thinking tools as approach to facilitating school development. Literature on traditional school effectiveness and school improvement indicate critical gaps of principals who are stuck in the old paradigms that cannot cope with the new school development challenges of the 21st century (Schleicher, 2012; Duggart, 2008; Duffy, 2007).
Most of the studies on IQMS have focused on different strands and themes which indicate the gap between theory and practice in the implementation phases. In the review that has been conducted, only two studies have used a systems thinking approach to IQMS (Mchunu, 2006;
Mntambo, 2009). However, there has been a steady increase of interest in South Africa in conducting studies from the systems thinking perspective in education, and other disciplines which focus on wide areas of interest (Green, 2013; Jack, 2012; Xulu, 2009; Msimango, 2009; van Soelen, 2008). The studies that have been conducted on IQMS show that there has
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been great interest in school development and school improvement under the holistic supra system of IQMS. The limited nature of the studies conducted on school development from a systems thinking perspective, justifies the value that this study will add to body of knowledge on school development. It also shows the increasing interest by South African scholars on conducting studied in education from a systems thinking approach. With the advent of systemic education reform there is a rethinking of the way school development is perceived.
The shift has tilted towards collaboration, capacity building and co-learning across the schooling system. The literature that has been reviewed shows the gaps that exist in the developing countries in studies conducted on school development from a systems thinking lens.
The challenges faced by developing countries include shortage of resources and other hindering environmental and situational factors, which negatively impact on school development (Scherer, 2015; Khupe, Balkwill, Tshoe & Selesho, 2014; Osman & Cameron, 2013; Panday & Xu, 2012; Rotherham & Willingham, 2009; Pont, Nusche & Hopkins, 2008). This poses a challenge to the manner in which local communities and society needs to be engaged in determining the needs of the school (Chetty, 1992; Prew, 2009). The prevailing situation from the Western countries to developing Southern African countries is totally different, particularly when these school development initiatives are imported wholesale without due regard to the localised contexts (Mtapuri, 2014; Mji, 2011; Nkambule, 2010; Khumalo, 2008; Buthelezi, 2005). In the next paragraph the discussion shifts to the initiatives on school improvement that were undertaken in South Africa.
The above review shows the focus of South African scholars and their interest in understanding how IQMS has been implemented across the length and breadth of South Africa. Amongst others, one of the key objectives in this study is to examine the benefits of utilising systems thinking for purposes of school development. The review of literature that will follow is based on examining some of the key areas considered as benefits to school development.
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